Li Zibin, vice-minister of the State Development Planning Commission, caused excitement with his development plan among more than 3,000 participants from 77 countries and regions across the world.

The stable and high-speed growth of the domestic economy was also highlighted in Li's speech.

"For such a massive campaign, which requires contributions of several generations, we are eager to enlist support from all Chinese, including overseas Chinese, and foreign investors," Li told the biennial reunion of entrepreneurs, originally from South China, who have started successful businesses abroad.

Teochew, currently known as Chaozhou, refers to a section of the coastal area in South China's Guangdong Province. Many former inhabitants migrated overseas in the past centuries and achieved flourishing businesses in other countries and regions.

Since the first meeting held in Hong Kong in 1981, 10 meetings have been held in host countries such as Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore and other regions.

Li urged the entrepreneurs to be among the first "gold rushers" in the middle and western regions.

"Although the investing environment needs to be improved in the regions, it is ripe for those investors with foresight," Li said.

"The earlier you act, the more successful you are," Li, once acting mayor of South China's Shenzhen from 1994-1998, cited his research on the city's early investors, where China started its economic reform campaign more than 20 years ago.

"If you wait until the infrastructure and the sound investing system have been in place, more investors will come in, and fiercer competition will appear."

Ameng Wijaya, aged 50, a representative from Indonesia, is thinking about starting a business in the western regions.

"Low-priced labor, rich natural resources and a low taxation policy in the regions are very attractive to me," said Ameng, whose family members have run a chemical factory in Indonesia for four generations.

(China Daily October 21, 2001)